COOL HAND LUKE

by Donn Pearce ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 9, 1965

This adamantine short saga of a West Florida chain gang is something of a rock crusher in itself and celebrates the exploits of one Cool Hand Luke who could ""work the hardest, eat the mostest, tell the biggest lies and sing the dirtiest songs."" He is also a savior on the Hard Road as they swing their yo-yos (weed cutters) and shovels, all pendulums ""of the great invisible clock""-- Time. Well now, Cool Hand Luke who had won two Purple Hearts, a Bronze and a Silver Star (no good conduct medals) during the war, had since been picked up as a parking meter bandit. Here he continues with colossal bravura to eat fifty hard boiled eggs in a sitting, to survive without flinching the punishment routine of Boss Godfrey, to escape once, playing ""ticktacktoe across the entire countryside,"" again, beating the guns and the dogs, and finally a last time to be shot down in a Negro church... No message-- just a prodigious admiration and all the sna of a bullwhip. A kind of classic small tall story (in latrine language).

Pub Date: Aug. 9, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION